20 February, 2017

UAE arms show heightens militarism as Yemen war rages on

The
United Arab Emirates, a partner to Saudi-led coalition waging a
destructive war in Yemen, is eyeing billion-dollar arms deals with
local and international companies as an arms show in Abu Dhabi gets
underway.

The UAE
announced 4.5 billion dirhams ($1.2 billion) worth of military
procurement deals on Sunday at the opening of the biennial
International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi,
which is attended by over 1,200 companies.

Brigadier
General Rashid al-Shamsi, an IDEX spokesman, said the figure was part
of a total of 20-billion-dirham worth of purchases the UAE expects to
make at the arms fair this week, AFP reported.

He said most
of the figure will be spent on buying 400 armored personnel carriers
worth $544 million from a local manufacturer, adding, "We
expect (to award) more than 20 billion dirhams in contracts by the
end of Idex."

Australia
and the UAE have agreed to consider a 10-year defense plan that could
include more than one billion Australian dollars ($767 million) in
sales to the UAE.